I’m heading up to BC for a bit and that means I’ll miss the local Barter Fair. I don’t buy anything except food. I usually just come and volunteer to sit with people in the calm tepee and I leave a bunch of stuff at the free store.
I love the free store. It’s a big covered area where you can bring stuff you want to give away. There are hangers and shelves to display your wares.
No matter how hard I try, I end up with too much stuff in my life, so, I have a rule that everyday I have to get rid of something. When I lived in a house my rule was that I had to get rid of 10 things a day because I had a lot more stuff.
It’s such a great feeling of abundance to give away your stuff. There is more than enough stuff for everyone, if people would just let go of the stuff they aren’t using.
Up in BC there is a free store at the dump; that’s a good place for it. People can give away good stuff instead of tossing it into the landfill.
I wish we had a year-round free store. Where you can free up what you don’t need and take what you do; like the hiker boxes in the trail towns.
It’s sometimes hard for me to give away good stuff that I paid a bunch of money for but that’s the challenge. Last year I gave away: an expensive sleeping bag, a z-rest, a therma-rest and chair kit, a sil-nylon poncho tarp, stuff sacks, a stove, and a bunch of other things. Everything I put in the free store got taken.
In my mind, wealth is measured by how much time a person has and how few possessions they can own.
Related post: Moving Guide
